Episode 4 Watchdog

Tonight - after what we found in the ice at those coffee shops,

you asked us to check out the best-known fast food chains, too.

And what's turned up this time is even worse.

So, why are so many big names getting basic hygiene wrong?

This is Watchdog - Live - and on your side.

Hello, welcome to Watchdog, live for the next hour,

tackling more of the topics you've told us matter to you.

Thanks to everyone who's been in touch.

Whether it's slow broadband, dodgy smart meter installation

or being separated on a flight, you're not only tipping us off,

but also helping us to keep pushing for results.

One name in particular keeps popping up.

Yes ? Volkswagon, we're looking at you.

Every day, more Watchdog viewers say they're experiencing the same issues

we revealed last week - sudden power loss at critical moments.

And yet the company still seems to be stalling.

On tonight's Rogue Traders - a nationwide car servicing company

whose own staff say that to work there, you've got to leave your

It's got a reputation for being Britain's worst

mobile phone provider, especially for customer service.

And you'll understand why, when you hear the impact of some

Nobody at Vodafone seems to be fazed by the fact that this has cost us

thousands of pounds in rent. Nobody at Vodafone seems to be bothered.

With us tonight, more people whose mobile phone companies

And Juliet is here to answer your questions on our Facebook page.

She'll be answering your questions on our Facebook page

But that's not the only way to get in touch, is it, Nikki?

We love hearing your comments on all our stories,

so please email us at [email protected].

And of course, we're also on Twitter - @BBCWatchdog.

All the messages you send us come straight through to

And there's one story tonight that I'm sure is going to get a big

reaction, and it's to do with the noise levels of some

Yes, some of them are way louder than the experts say is safe.

So to investigate - we called in a fella,

who it's fair to say is on the rather loud side himself.

Actor Brian Blessed has been testing out just how noisy some

Wait till you see what they found out about hair dryers.

Who could forget what we found in the ice at those

Well, our swab mob's been at it again.

Our investigation into coffee shop hygiene earlier in the series had a

huge impact. The chains all promised immediate action, but following our

report, a number of you got in touch with suspicions that other food

venues might all have a problem with their ice. Many of you raised

concerns about the fast food industry, in particular. As ever,

you lead our investigation, so we sent our team to fast food

restaurants to put them to the test. Our swab mob team tested the top

three fast food chains where staff members serve ice, McDonald's,

Burger King and KFC. On average, we eat more than 100 fast food meals

each per year. With an estimated 50,000 outlets across the UK, you're

never far from a familiar sign. We tested ice front-end branches of

each chain and sent them straight off to our laboratory for analysis.

We took all these samples after our first investigation hit the

headlines, so you might have thought the chains would have checked to

make sure their ice hygiene was up to scratch. I have set up my own

pop-up watchdog fast food restaurant. And I've invited back

Tony Lewis from the Chartered Institute Of Environmental Health.

Lovely to see you. Here we are again. And given what we found out

last time, what are your thoughts? I would have hoped that businesses

across the country producing ice drinks would have stepped up and

looked at the results and made sure that their ice machines were clean.

Well, let's have a look at what we found. We tested our ice for

indicators of faecal contamination, the kind we found in nearly half of

our coffee shop ice samples. Tony, remind us what is an acceptable

level? In ice, none. And Defra, the government department which sets

water standards, agrees. The safe limit for these is zero in drinking

water. But unfortunately, we found these again in our samples, and not

just in one or two. First, McDonald's. Out of ten stores

tested, we found traces of these coliforms in three out of the ten

ice samples. You have got traces of coliforms, they should not be there.

In Burger King, we found coliforms in six out of ten ice samples. And

four of those contained significant quantities. That's more of a worry.

They are or worry, it is just a matter of the level of risk! And

finally, KFC, where we found these coliforms, which let's not forget,

are indicators of faecal contamination, in seven out of ten

samples, five of them in significant want it is. So across all of our

samples, more than half came back positive for coliforms which are

indicators of faecal contamination. So in fact, a higher number than we

found in coffee shops. Tony, it's everywhere, isn't it? More than half

our samples! Yes, it is, extremely worrying. What is the most likely

cause? When we're finding these sorts of numbers, you have to look

at the people making the ice, handling the ice, which they then

transferring to customer Paul Cullen streaks. And you have to look at the

machines themselves, are they being kept clean? It can, the risk is low

but it is still unacceptable. I would be particularly concerned if

you are a vulnerable person, if you are compromised in any way. Then you

are at a greater risk of being ill as a result of consuming drinks with

this high-level of coliforms. You don't expect that from an ice drink.

Definitely not. We found this in two different industries now, do you

think this is bigger than we thought? It may well be. We have

looked at coffee shops, we have now looked at fast food restaurants. Is

it elsewhere? The likelihood is that it is. I've also invited along some

watchdog viewers to see what they make of our results, including Tom

Brady, who suggested taking a closer look at the fast food chains. Now,

Tom and Amber, I know you wrote into the programme, Tom, to tell us about

your concerns about fast food chains. So, in the high street

chains we looked at, one of them had coliforms in three out of ten, the

other six out of ten, and the other, seven out of ten. That's quite

alarming in to think that it is as high as that is really, really not

nice to hear. And when we told some more burger loving viewers, well,

they were disgusted. Does this make you worry generally about hygiene? I

think this is the tip of the iceberg, could it spread to other

things? This is 2017, it's incredible! I would probably choose

now not to get a drink with ice in it. That is a bit of a surprise to

me, I did not expect that. It is not something you really think about.

And this leaves us with one serious question. Are the authorities doing

enough when it comes to protecting us against dodgy ice when we eat

out? Well, one environmental health department was so concerned by our

report on coffee shop hygiene, they took immediate action. The team at

Jersey environmental health went out to coffee shops on the island that

same day to take samples of ice for testing. We are here to protect

people from anything which might affect their health, and clearly if

there is a suggestion that ice in coffee and things is a problem, we

need to check that. The samples they tested came back clean. But

following our report, they now intend to make ice testing. Regular

part of their inspections. My boss has said that we will be checking

public houses, my clubs, bars and restaurants and it will become a

regular feature. So, isn't it time all authorities across the UK did

the same and made sure the ice we are served is fit to drink?

Well, all three chains have told us about their procedures for the safe

management and handling of ice, from inspections and cleaning,

They've stressed they'll be reinforcing those

KFC, where we found the most bacteria, said it is shocked

and extremely disappointed by our results, and it immediately

shut down the ice machines in the restaurants affected

to conduct a thorough clean and inspection.

And it says that to reassure customers, it's also inspected

and cleaned the ice machines in all 890 of its other

Burger King told us cleanliness and hygiene are its top priority,

and it's taking this as an opportunity to ensure all

And McDonald's, whose ice came out best in our tests,

was also the one that sent us the most detail on its

It has reiterated that the bacteria we found there didn't include

e-coli, which is the most reliable indicator of faecal contamination.

But it says it would welcome the introduction of an agreed

Are you worried about these results? Yes, it is worrying, it was the

coffee shops, and now it is the fast food chains. When you go in for an

ice cold Creek, you do not expect it to have these coliforms in it, these

indicators of faecal contamination. What would you do if you were a boss

of a fast food restaurant? It is all about hand washing. We know that

people are told to wash their hands, but are they taught how to do it?

When we have medical students in the hospital, we teach them how to wash

their hands, and if they get it wrong, we make them do it again and

again. It's not clear how much of that is going on in these places.

But how much do you police it as well? They say they are doing the

training, so how can you make sure that the bill are washing their

hands properly? Well, one thing we do when we're teaching kids in the

museums, at the university in Liverpool, we have a programme with

the local Science Museum, and we put on this glow gel stuff and then they

wash their hands, and you can show them with UV light where they have

missed. You can get kits like this for about ?40, so this is something

maybe some of these stores should be considering. So you have some kind

of machine where you can see whether you have actually got stuff on you?

It would not work quite like that, this would be when you're training

them. At the moment there is nothing that you could use routinely every

time people wash their hands. And what about the authorities, do you

think we will see more testing? Clearly it is not currently part of

the way environmental health routinely operates when checking

premises out of. But we've heard one environmental health authority is

interested in doing that, and maybe this is something which will become

more widespread. Thank you very much for your time.

Now on Rogue Traders, we've talked before about the difference

Engineers are there to tell you the truth about your problem

and then fix it in the best and cheapest way possible.

The more it costs you, the more they make.

Now imagine a company that puts a salesman

in between you and the engineer you need to fix your car.

As a business, Servicing Stop of Enfield could not have had a better

start back in 2009. Together, we run the company. We have around 600

garages across the UK, carrying out MOT and service and repairs. We are

affordable, convenient and we have fixed, transparent costs. On

average, we are 30% to 50% cheaper than the main dealer. In fact, their

prices seemed almost too good to be true, offering MOT for ?24 and a

full service for just ?98 on average. Three dragons offered to

invest in the business, with Deborah Meaden making the best offer. But

they turned her down! How daft is that?! I have often thought of just

coming up with some kind of business proposal so I could be turned down

BY Deborah Meaden! Talking of which, this is a mobile phone which

exfoliates while you chat! Hi, mum! Deborah, call me... So, the Dragons

are out of the picture, but how does the business work? When your car

needs a service, instead of calling your local garage, you call

Servicing Stop. The company picks up your car and delivers it to a local

garage, one of a network they use nationwide. The garage decides what

work needs to be done and then submits a report to Servicing Stop.

One of their service advisors, who get paid commission, by the way,

then pass on to you the good or the bad news. Sadly, it appears that

someone in this setup has been misbehaving! And Servicing Stop's

bad behaviour starts on its website, which offers customers an incredible

60% off main dealer prices IF they book by the end of the day. Except,

this offer seems to be available every single day! The clock simply

resets! Misleading offers like this are

against the law. But Servicing Stop does not stop there. Just ask Chris

Owen who got a surprise when he booked his Megara live full Volvo

in. -- mega- reliable Volvo. The guy said it would need new tyres. I said

how much will it cost me? He said North of ?800. The first

notification you get is they have carried out a full service, it will

cost more than 800 quid and your car is effectively held to ransom unless

you pay that money? It was. Chris refuse to pay the work and instead

took his card to a Volvo specialist who carried out the repairs and MOT

for nothing like the 800 quid quoted by Servicing Stop. Having got the

specialist evidence now, I am really annoyed that they tried to rip me

off. It is clearly a rip-off in my layman's head, that they are taking

cars in, then ringing you with a list of faults, expecting you to say

yes, carry on with the work and get your car back. But how we can -- how

can we know for certain that Servicing Stop or up to no good?

That they are getting their network of garages to carry out work that

does not need doing. If only there was someone in the middle of the

process that we could talk to. A garage. Hello, a garage. Simon Webbe

is a garage owner who until January did work for Servicing Stop for

format three years. He says the company's service advisors kept

pressuring him to carry out unnecessary extra work. When I say

extras I am talking about predominantly the brake fluid and

engine flush. Probably 80% of those. Quite often we would take calls

saying they wanted this doing, this doing, and that is when we started

to say no, it doesn't need doing. Frequently, we had arguments, big

arguments as well, including threats that they are going to take us off

the system, to which we responded, go ahead, no problem, because we

knew they couldn't get anyone else in the area who would put up for us.

Time for us to test this for ourselves by sticking our own car

into the machine to see what pops out. Meanwhile... Summon a

studentship. Your job, should you choose to accept it, and you do, is

defined yourself a role at Servicing Stop of Enfield, and please don't

confuse it with other firms who may have the same or similar sounding

name, because it will make it hell to do your travel expenses. Now go,

you who shall be known as Anna, and find a role in customer services.

Find a role she does, and she is making friends already. Pleased to

meet you, how are you doing? Good, and yourself? Somewhere there is a

link in the chain which is cause enough pain. The Richmond brothers

don't seem to have got the message. You can sell, or you can help -

blur the boundary - Until you see it,

you won't believe it. Now, a cracking result

following a story we did last week looking at how fraudsters have set

up fake fundraising sites to cash The problem is, it's not

very clear to work out who you are giving your money

to on some fundraising sites. Last week, we had on our sofa

a manager from one of the best-known fund raising sites, JustGiving,

who promised to make it much clearer which appeals

are from registered charities. Yes, they've made it much

simpler now, so when you're on the JustGiving site,

you'll be able to see at the top of a fundraising page whether it's

a registered charity or just Proper results, good one. Last week

there was only one story in town about whether bolts wagon were being

straight with their customers, denying a problem when hundreds of

you think that there is. Hundreds of you reckon that VW's

efforts to fix one problem have Here's a reminder of

what we said last week. Volkswagen was found to have fitted

some cars were the cheapest device in 2015 to fiddle the results of

emissions tests. Over a million cars were affected, not just VW models,

but Audis, say ats and Skodas. Lisa Jones is one of hundreds of Watchdog

viewers to say her car has never been the same since having a fixed

done. Several times her VW Passat has lost power and gone into limp

mode. We would go and see Premier League darts. Going up the M5, the

card has died. Limp mode. As Lisa took her car over to the hard

shoulder, a lorry crashed into the back of it. It was, oh my God, we've

been hit by a lorry. From the boot to the passenger door was pretty

much crumpled in. If I wasn't as quick to react, it could have been a

lot worse. A lot, lot worse. When Lisa contacted VW, the company stuck

to what has become a familiar line. There was no connection between what

happened and the software fix. But MP Louise Ellman, who chaired a

transport select committee into the emissions Campbell, told us she did

not think that could be true. This is simply outrageous. This is not

fixed that works. It is creating more problems. VW should stop

denying the problem they have created and put things right.

Well, many hundreds more of you have been in touch on that story

Or you're just not convinced by what Volkswagon is saying.

Yes, it's hard to know which comments to read out -

You've been telling us about near misses with lorries

and tractors after going into limp mode ? that's when your car can

Robert Prince told us he had the fix in December but within a few weeks

it was breaking down and going into limp mode repeatedly. He says his

car is not performing as well as it was before the fix and when he told

his VW dealership, they said they had never heard of the issues

before. That is scary. It is also garages who have been getting in

touch. Couple of independent dealers have been in touch. One said when

they first had customers they thought it was just isolated cases

but as time goes on they think there is a pattern relating to the fix

software. The fix is free, but you don't

have to have it, do you? No, it's not compulsory - and quite

a few of you have told us you've changed your mind about having it

after seeing our report. Others like Tim Sheppard wish he'd

known it was optional. Tim says all of the documentation he

saw made it look like it was Well, the cases are mounting up,

but VW's not budging. It still says its fix

has no adverse impact, does not cause or increase

the incidence of limp mode occurring, and there

is no systemic problem. But it's again said that anyone

concerned should get in touch. Why hairdryers could be

damaging your hearing. We sent shy and retiring actor

Brian Blessed to investigate. And in 24 hours, you mustn't use it

more than two minutes. To dry your hair? Two minutes?

If you're considering buying a house, maybe

thinking about is speaking to your mobile phone provider.

If you're a Vodafone customer, it could make all the difference.

Since its launch in 1984, Vodafone has always had a knack for

generating headlines. It boasts the first mobile phone call made by a

member of the public, 1p wise, to be precise in 1985. It was the first

company to launch date and tech services. But recent headlines have

not been so positive. Vodafone has been by far the most complained

about mobile phone network, according to official stats. In May

this year Vodafone announced losses of over ?5 billion. This coming just

months after the regulator Ofcom handed it one of the biggest ever

finds for a telecoms company. The company was forced to pay out a

staggering ?4.6 million, for misleading customers on

pay-as-you-go contracts, and mishandling complaints. But Ofcom

dropped its investigation into billing problems for those on

monthly contracts, saying the level of harm appeared to have been

relatively low. It seems that not although differing customers agree.

You have been telling us the issues with Vodafone contracts could be

causing much more harm than just incorrect bills, even if you have

done nothing wrong. I have come to Staffordshire to meet Eleanor

Murray. She and her partner Joe paid a terrible price for a mistake made

by Vodafone which ended up scuppering their dream of buying a

new home. We put an offer in and the offer was accepted which was

fantastic. We were really excited to move in. Then

we went to apply for the final part of the mortgage and we were told

that the mortgage application had been declined. We were really

confused. We checked through a couple of different credit Chequers.

Then one showed that Joe had been receiving a default from Vodafone.

Vodafone had continued to charge the couple for an account he had failed

to counsel when he upgraded the phone. They found that default on

Joe's credit rating. They had not received any bills until then. As

the couple soon realised, your credit record is like your financial

CV. If you miss a payment, the company can put a black mark on your

record. Vodafone put this black mark on your credit record -- Vodafone

put this black mark on their credit record even though they did not owe

the company any money. What was this house like? Was gorgeous. Easy to

get to my parents and his parents. It was everything we were looking

for. Then someone ousts with dinner and bought it after it was declined

for us. Vodafone gave them ?50 compensation and took the black

marks of their credit record by but by then it was too late, the house

had gone. Eleanor says they have lost out far more because they have

been stuck paying rent rather than paying a mortgage. How do you feel

you have been treated by Vodafone? Nobody Vodafone seems to be fazed by

the fact that this has cost us thousands of pounds in rent. Nobody

at Vodafone seems bothered. We have been contacted by other customers

who say the company's mistakes have had a huge impact on their credit

scores and their lives. Laura from Edinburgh cancelled her Vodafone

contract in October 2015 but the company carried on trying to take

payments. She also had a mortgage application cancelled after Vodafone

placed black records on her record. And Louise and Mike Jennings from

crew contacted us after finding that Vodafone had put black marks on

their record. The company had mistakenly opened a sub account in

their names. Most people we have spoken to have convinced Vodafone to

remove the black marks on their record but others have had a much

bigger struggle. Sue Cook from Weymouth held three Vodafone

accounts for herself and family members. Vodafone failed to properly

processed a contract cancellation in 2015, and since then, Sue has

received dramatically increasing bills each month that nobody at the

company seems able to explain. Irbil now stands at over ?2000, and

despite her best efforts, Vodafone still cannot tell her why. Vodafone

customer service is, there isn't one. It is not being handed to a

particular department to be handled professionally. Sue has desperately

been trying to resolve this with Vodafone. The company has now

started recording miss payments on her credit file and passed her

details to the debt collection agency. I went into a mother Leave

another mobile phone provider to get a contract phone and I was declined.

I was shocked. I thought the only people who could have done this to

me was Vodafone. Sue's credit score dropped down to 190 from 999. This

is affecting her plans for the future. My desire is to downsize. I

would like to move to something smaller. I know this is going to

have a big impact on this. They do stringent credit checks now. This

has put a hold on everything. Just something as small as a mobile phone

has escalated to have an impact on my credit score to be able to move

home. This has left me feeling very anxious and upset, and I just don't

know what the next step is going to be. It is the unknown now. Sleepless

nights may be for a little while longer. I just need this all to come

to an end. From the cases we have seen, it

seems Vodafone can be incredibly fast to put back marks on a

customer's records, even when the case in question is very much in

dispute. How do mobile phone providers measure up against other

service providers? Mobile phone providers on the worst performers in

our experience when it comes to debt collection in the UK. The things we

see include a debt being referred to a debt collection agency before all

of the avenues on the investigation have been exhausted by the company.

So one thing we are calling on mobile phone companies to introduce

is a blanket rule that says, if a dispute has been reasonably raised

by a customer about their bill, that all debt collection activity will be

suspended until that dispute is work out. When the impact of its billing

errors can be so four, shouldn't Vodafone be quicker at putting

things right so that customers don't end up paying so heavily for ITS

mistakes? Vodafone told us it is sorry

that its service to these customers wasn't significantly better and says

that since 2015 it has invested heavily in upgrading systems,

improving employee training, and recruiting 2,000 additional

customer service roles. It says these changes have

significantly improved customer service, but it will continue

to drive improvement. We have us with us Juliette,

telecoms barrister. And we have also gotten Aqib, what is happening with

your phone? My contract ended briefly years ago, it was under my

dads name, and it was continuing to be built, and it is affecting my

dad'scredit score. How popular is that making you in the house? Not

very! How do you resolve that? You should contact your network

provider, you should ask them if they are prepared to resolve the

dispute, ask them for a deadlock letter which immediately invokes

alternative dispute resolution procedure, which would then result

in the matter being dealt with. Alternative dispute resolution, a

very good way to go, to take it out of your hands, and the hands of the

provider. Fantastic. We have also been contacted by customers of EE

and Three on Anglesey, what has been happening? We had five weeks with no

signal on the island, it was not ideal for us, with Alison expecting,

paying ?20 per month for the contract. We want to make sure that

we have the right compensation. Absolutely, so, contracts and

coverage, Juliette, what happens with compensation from these guys?

Again, there are broad obligations to provide collectivity on a

national basis. In this instance again, if you're unhappy with the

way they are trying to resolve the dispute for you, then you can raise

the dispute resolution procedure with them. They should offer you

compensation first normally, in these circumstances. We put your

situation to Three, and EE, who both apologise and say they will consider

compensation on a case-by-case basis. If you have any mobile phone

contract questions, Juliette will be answering them throughout the show.

Just head to the watchdog page on Facebook.

Next, back to Rogue Traders - and a glorious start on Dragons' Den

should have meant great things for Servicing Stop, business baby

But they turned the Dragons down, and now a raft of customer

complaints has us asking where it all went wrong?

We're about to put our finger on exactly where,

Seems like the Dragons narrowly avoided getting burnt.

Stooge and is undercover at the headquarters of Servicing Stop in

Enfield. Meanwhile, we booked in our favourite stooge car in for a

service and MOT, and they quoted us ?96. But this is no ordinary car. It

has been checked top to bottom by the best testers in town, MOT tester

Mike O'Sullivan and automotive engineer assessor Mark Brownto check

out whether Servicing Stop do a proper service, they leave a few

wheel nut lives and tyre pressure is low. Apart from that, they reckon

our car doesn't need of thing doing to it. ?496 there should not be any

additional costs on top of that. They should not find anything else,

the vehicle should be OK. Crystal clear. Servicing Stop collect the

car, and we await the good news. The guys in the workshop have given us

their report. What?! How much?! And Servicing Stop

make it clear that the work NEEDS to be done. It is essential for the

running of the car? Yes. Because obviously, if the fuel filter gets

blocked up, you will end up with the vehicle lacking power, emissions

will be too high, worst-case attention in breaking down. Breaking

down, the very next day? This sounds serious! There is no reason why the

car should break down if that fuel filter wasn't changed. OK, that's

not serious, then. And remember what they said when they turned down the

Dragons... On average, we are 30% to 50% cheaper than the main dealer.

Well, not today. Because they charge a whopping ?77 for the fuel filter,

and ?54 for the other treatment. The fuel filter is twice as expensive as

the main agent would charge. And the fuel treatment, four times as

expensive. And win our experts kept the vehicle back, they did the basic

safety checks, and they could tell they had not been properly done. It

surprises me that they have not carried out such fundamentally

important work, like taking the wheels off to check the brakes, and

checking the tyre pressures is the most basic job on a service. So,

they carried out repairs we didn't need, they overcharged and gave us a

shoddy service, leaving our car in a potentially dangerous state. Great

job, guys! Time, then, for stooge and to find out what's going on at

Servicing Stop headquarters. Watching on to give his opinion is

Mark, a commercial and business lawyer with 25 years experience in

the field. First up, Anna notices that almost every customer is

charged an extra ?24 plus VAT for synthetic oil, or as Servicing Stop

describe it, specialist oil. But just how specialist is it?

Not specialist, then. What does Mark think going how specialist is it? It

is actually illegal to be misleading, or to put something

across to a consumer in a misleading way, when in fact, it is not really

specialist, is it? We are still wondering why our stooge car got

such a shoddy service. Anna is in customer services, so we need

another stooge, Mick to find out where to send our cars too. To be

clear, the company claims it has put in place quality checks with each

garage. Google, sounds rigorous! There is nothing wrong with choosing

them in a random way, but if they are telling people that they are

vetting them, they have to vet them, and they are clearly not. Next up,

prices - does Servicing Stop really deliver the unbeatable repair prices

it claims? Not according to some of its own workers. Take, for example,

a brake fluid change. And it seems Servicing Stop can

simply make up the prices as they go along. Just look what we've got hold

of. Servicing Stop's own training manual here. It tells staff sales

advisors will need to use their own discretion when calculating customer

prices. If you put too much on the job, then it won't get agreed. If

you put too little, you won't make any commission! Wow! They don't put

that on the adverts are! She's unconvinced, I think! That is

putting its somewhat mildly. If you're relying on the fact has that

you're going to these people because they tell you they will give you a

good price, and you're being overcharged! Finally, the claims

that Servicing Stop tell customers they need repairs which aren't

necessary. Oh, here's a service advisor now! These people never see

customers' cars, and yet are on commission to sell extra repairs...

Wow! He's effectively saying that there are people in that room who

will sell you things you don't need. That's right. The law specifically

says that if they try and tell you you need something, a part or

service or repair or something, and it's Andrew Kometa illegal. Were it

the odd rogue salesperson, it might not be a systemic problem in the

company. But by being something which everybody seems to know about,

clearly there is a cultural problem there as well. Wow! Dine out! And it

is backed up in the Servicing Stop training manual, look! No car should

go to payment with just a service, and no advisories on the report.

There is always something that can be sold. There it is, in black and

white. Staff have to sell you things, even if you don't need them!

Even some of Servicing Stop's own staff aren't happy about it. Check

out what they say about those devilish service advises.

And lots of it, according to this manager.

The service care department at Servicing Stop is full

of salesmen who are on a mission to make commission.

They'll use your car to drive up the bill.

We're exacting Meaden's revenge, in around 15 minutes.

Shall we talk about what's been happening online? I know my

flamingos have caused a bit of a stir! In all seriousness, loads of

stuff coming in about the stories we have been talking about? Yeah, as

expected, strong reaction to the film on fast food hygiene. This one

says, this is horrid. Someone else on Twitter - he's going to be

getting his drinks without ice for a while! And a lot of messages about

our Vodafone film. Jonathan on Facebook says he had a nightmare

after trying to cancel his Vodafone contract, and he's struggling to get

the black marks removed from his record, which is stressful. This one

says, she had issued with her phone network and credit report and says

she has had to get the ombudsman involved to get them removed.

Certainly a lot of people concerned about the stories we're talking

about. Keep in touch and keep your comments coming in, and we'll have

more on all of them a little bit later on. Now, do you recognise that

noise? It takes about 50 minutes for me to blow dry this lot! It is hard

to hear ourselves over the sound of the hairdryer, but never thought it

could actually be damaging your hearing. And it is not the only

device which might be too loud. Are obvious choice to investigate is the

actor Ram Som - and he's loud! Modern life can be so noisy, it can

be hard to find a moment of peace, even in your own home! -- actor

Brian blessed. I am not known for being quiet, so I realise my hatred

of all things loud is just a bit ironic. From leaf blowers to

blenders, it can seem like everything is so much louder than it

needs to be. So I want to find out just how loud our appliances are and

whether they're actually damaging our hearing. World Health

Organisation has set a safe limit for noise at 85 decibels, roughly

the sound of disease city traffic. Experts agree that this is a level

at which you can listen to any sound for around eight hours without

risking harm to your hearing. Anything louder than that means that

it is a shorter period of time you can listen without risking damage.

So how loud the appliances in our houses and do they keep below this

limit? To find out, I've come to meet someone from ample quiet mark,

an organisation which encourages manufacturers to produce quieter

appliances. It intrigues me, are their maximum noise levels in

household appliances? There are no limits in household

appliances. It is a grey area. From September for upright vacuum

cleaners there is a new limit capped at 80 decibel is. Is there a real

danger in the home from all these appliances? If you are repeatedly

subjected to loud noises, it has a detrimental affect on your health,

your hearing and different stress factors on your body. Poppy is

showing me the test she does to find out how loud everyday products are,

and the difference between very similar products is astonishing.

First, two lenders measured by Poppy with a decibel reader. The first one

is 71, a good amount under the 85 decibels safe limit. The second one

is much louder. As you can see, these are two very similar products.

This one is 91 decibel is. If this one was in the workplace you would

have to wear hearing protection, working next to a machine like this.

Next, a real bugbear of mine, leaf blowers. We tested every child but

it rechargeable model next to a petrol model -- we tested a

rechargeable model next to a petrol one. This was incredibly low. That

was 97 decibel is. That is roughly the same volume as a jackhammer.

Before I left, I couldn't help but to see how I registered on the

decibel scale. But it around your ears. OK. Here is my King Lear.

King Lear hit 117 decibel is, that is louder than a jet engine.

Goodness! That was obviously a bit of fun that damage to our hearing

from loud noises in our lives is a worry. If it is regular or

prolonged, it can cause permanent damage or hearing loss. It is

something which really concerns Watchdog Fila Trevor Bell. He got in

touch about concerns about one device which he worries could be

damaging his hearing. You had trouble with your vacuum cleaner? I

noticed my vacuum cleaner was rather loud. When I looked at the packaging

it arrived in, it was 94 decibel which struck me as quite loud. I was

concerned about that and wondered if it was likely to affect my hearing.

To find out, Watchdog asked Professor Chris Black, an

audiologist from the University of Manchester, to work out how long he

thinks you can safely use a vacuum like Trevor's without damaging your

hearing. He has given me the results. In 24 hours, you can only

experience it, it is recommended for four hours, and then it starts doing

damage. Goodness. The professor also tested other appliances in Trevor's

house and the amount of time they can be used before risking hearing

damage was extraordinary. Worst of all, this hair dryer. How many

decibels would you guess? 70. It is surprisingly 105 decibels to 108.

What? And in 24 hours, you must not use it for more than two minutes. To

dry your hair into minutes? I was shocked at that hair dryer results,

as were the Watchdog team. We tested five leading hairdryers on the

market to see what noise levels they produced. We are using this test

mannequin which is fitted with highly sensitive sound monitoring

equipment designed to measure decibel is. The Remington and

Babylis were the equivalent of an aeroplane coming into land. You

should not use it for more than a couple of minutes. Tresemme Power

Drive measured even higher at 110 decibels. And the GHD was even

louder at 112 decibels. The loudest was the Mark Hill salon professional

dryer which registered a whopping 115 decibels when used around the

ear. That is the same as the upper limit of a very loud rock concert

and just on the verge of the average pain threshold for a person. That is

very, very loud. You would not want to be exposed to that for more than

a minute every day. You would have to be very careful using this

hairdryer. What I find surprisingly is only one

of the hairdryers we tested contained any information about

decibel levels in its packaging. And none gave any indication about how

long it could be used safely. Very few products are required to provide

noise information on packaging, just some white goods and cooker hoods.

Ask consumers have no idea about the safety use limit which is something

our sound expert believes would make a huge difference. There is room to

improve the legislation, especially around the labelling. Manufacturers

have to be clear about what safe level far for exposure to these

devices. It seems everyday household appliances can be far more than just

a nuisance. They can also cause real damage. So surely manufacturers

should be warning us about this? I love his voice, I could literally

listen to that everyday. Gordon's alive. You have got to do it in the

voice. I cannot do it! We contacted the manufacturers

of the hairdryers we tested. Most of them said they hadn't

received any complaints Mark Hill, who had the loudest

hairdryer, told us it uses a more powerful AC motor than other brands,

but that it comes with 25 different settings, so customers have

control over noise levels. And Remington says that

as there are no current EU testing standards -

it uses recognised US ones. But it does put sound

levels on its packaging. Conair, who own Babylis

and Tresemme, says it uses rigorous real life testing to make sure it's

hairdryers are within And it says that in normal use

a hairdryer wouldn't be directed towards the ear for a sustained

period of time. Finally, GHD says it's products

are independently tested to ensure they comply with health and safety

regulations in every country And the one we tested more

than meets British standards. Servicing Stop was supposed to be

a business model which got your car But it turns out it's not your car

that's getting serviced. Their salesmen are making

thousands of pounds by lying to you about your car and bump

starting the bill Servicing Stop is a company which

effectively started on television, on a television programme. They are

so proud of that they still advertise it on their website. You

would have thought they would want to come on another television

programme. After all, that is what we are giving them the opportunity

to do, and yet, they don't seem to want to. Maybe because we are not

asking in the right way. That is what it is all about. If you're

going to invite somebody, then you need to invite them properly. You

know, you need to do it in person, with an invitation. Something like

this. This kind of ticket doesn't come along very often. They can come

on television and explain to everybody, that is you, me,

everybody, but they are not running a company which makes up repairs and

ripstop their customers. A silver ticket. I am just going to deliver

this to Servicing Stop, to Olly and Toby, it is an invitation for them

to join us on Watchdog tomorrow night. So you are BBC Watchdog? We

are Rogue Traders, part of BBC Watchdog. You can go up there. I

have not seen them today. So somebody will take it from us? Can

you pass this to Oliver and Toby? I can but they are not here. It is an

invitation to come on our programme tomorrow in Manchester. Thank you so

much. Well, sadly, the Richmond brothers still declined our

invitation. This surely we are not as scary as Dragon 's Den. They did

send a statement. They say Servicing Stop works with a network of 1500

are just to provide a convenient and cost-effective way of servicing

cars. They say they keep customers happy with more than 97th and

satisfied last year. They provide a full cost breakdown and there is no

obligation for work to be done. They say occasionally problems arrived

but when made aware of them, they address them head-on, suspending

garages which fall short of their standards. They have visited the

garages we went to and offered a full refund. Servicing Stop's

lawyers have said we have got it all wrong. They maintain they are not

breaking the law, they conduct thorough checks and they do not

mislead customers or sell unnecessary parts or work. Well, we

would love to hear your experiences with Servicing Stop, either as a

customer, a garage or if you have worked there. Incidentally, the May

team have reiterated that while the company met all the criteria to

appear on the programme, no business decision went ahead and there is no

link between the company and Dragon's Den or Deborah Meaden.

If you'd like to send a story for us to investigate,

you can do it from our website bbc.co.uk/ watchdog.

Brian Blessed said's film has had an impact. One viewer says his King

Lear woke up his cat. Another viewer says Brian woke up her baby. Paul on

Twitter says Brian Blessed are louder than a jet engine, these are

the facts which matter. More on our hygiene film. An

interesting e-mail from James who worked in a food factory. He said

they were taught how to wash your hands and managers will carry out

slobs. Maybe an issue for food chains. You would not think it is so

hard to wash our hands. Thank you for getting in touch and we are

getting calls on our Vodafone film. David Smith said he cancelled his

contract in 2010 and it took four years for his credit file to be

sorted. It limits you so much if your credit report is not up to

scratch. Sam on Twitter says he is battling his ?900 bill and has to go

to the ombudsman. Going to an ombudsman or an adjudication service

is your best chance if you are happy not getting anywhere with your

provider -- if you are not getting anywhere with your provider. And we

have a wave from Tom. Not saying much at all. Sorry if we did wake

your cat up tonight. Next week, we're live as usual

but for one week only, we're on Thursday

night, not Wednesday. So, join us Thursday

at 8 for trains, planes, and perhaps the most shocking story

we've had all year. The BBC Proms celebrates

the extraordinary film music of John Williams in a concert

to mark his 85th birthday.